Netherlands Antilles
1958–2010
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)De Antilopen
AssociationNederlands Antilliaanse
Voetbal Unie
ConfederationCONCACAF (North America)
Home stadiumStadion Ergilio Hato
FIFA codeANT
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Highest118 (July 1995)
Lowest188 (December 2003)
First international
 Netherlands Antilles 3–1 Panama 
(Guatemala City, Guatemala; 4 March 1948)
Last international
 Netherlands Antilles 2–2 Suriname 
(Willemstad, Curaçao; 31 October 2010)
Biggest win
 Netherlands Antilles 15–0 Puerto Rico 
(Caracas, Venezuela; 15 January 1959)
Biggest defeat
 Netherlands 8–0 Netherlands Antilles 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 5 September 1962)
 Mexico 8–0 Netherlands Antilles 
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti; 8 December 1973)
CONCACAF Championship
& Gold Cup
Appearances4 (first in 1963)
Best resultThird place, 1963, 1969

The Netherlands Antilles national football team (Dutch: Nederlands-Antilliaans voetbalelftal; Papiamento: Selekshon Antiano di futbòl) was the national team of the former Netherlands Antilles from 1958 to 2010. It was controlled by the Nederlands Antilliaanse Voetbal Unie. The NAVU consisted of Curaçao and Bonaire. Aruba split in 1986 and has its own team.

The Netherlands Antilles team never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. The country managed to come third in the CONCACAF championships of 1963 and 1969; during the 1963 tournament they were unofficial football world champions for four days after beating Mexico and before losing to Costa Rica.[1]

History

Under the name Curaçao, the team played its first international game in 1934 (against Suriname, which was then still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well) and continued to use the name Curaçao until the qualifications for the World Championships of 1958,[2] although the name of the area had changed from "Territory of Curaçao" to "Netherlands Antilles" in 1948.

Dissolution of country

The Netherlands Antilles was dissolved as a unified political entity on 10 October 2010, and the five constituent islands took on new constitutional statuses within the Kingdom of the Netherlands,[3] forming 2 new countries (Curaçao and Sint Maarten) and 3 new special municipalities of the Netherlands (namely Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius).

At the time of the dissolution, the team was about to compete in the qualification tournament for the 2010 Caribbean Championship, and finally competed under an obsolete country name. Sint Maarten national football team, as well as Bonaire national football team are already members of CONCACAF, but are not members of FIFA. The Curaçao national football team took the place of the Netherlands Antilles as a FIFA member.[4]

Successor teams

Both FIFA and CONCACAF consider the Curaçaoan national team to be the direct and sole successor of the Netherlands Antilles national football team. The teams of other republics were inducted as fully new members.

Nation FIFA Active International tournament(s) Round
 Curaçao 2011-present (since 2011) 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group stage
2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarter-final
2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Withdrew
 Sint Maarten 2010-present (since 2010)
 Bonaire 2010-present (since 2010)

Coaching history

Caretaker manager are listed in italics.


  1. ^ Jan Zwartkruis served as manager of the Netherlands as well as the Netherlands Antilles concurrently from 1978 to 1981

Competitive record

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record qualification record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao
Uruguay 1930 did not enter did not enter
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 did not qualify 3 1 0 2 4 7
as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles
Chile 1962 did not qualify 6 2 2 2 4 14
England 1966 4 1 2 1 2 3
Mexico 1970 4 1 0 3 3 9
Germany 1974 CONCACAF Championship
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990
United States 1994 2 0 1 1 1 4
France 1998 2 0 1 1 1 2
South Korea Japan 2002 2 0 1 1 1 6
Germany 2006 4 1 0 3 4 8
South Africa 2010 4 2 1 1 3 1
Total – – – – – – – 31 8 8 15 23 54

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
El Salvador 1963 Third place 6 3 0 3 10 8 2 2 0 0 4 1
Guatemala 1965 Fifth place 5 0 2 3 4 16 Qualified automatically
Honduras 1967 did not qualify 4 0 2 2 4 6
Costa Rica 1969 Third place 5 2 1 2 9 12 Qualified automatically
Trinidad and Tobago 1971 Withdrew Withdrew
Haiti 1973 Sixth place 5 0 2 3 4 19 Qualified automatically
Mexico 1977 did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 9
Honduras 1981 4 0 3 1 1 2
1985 2 0 1 1 0 4
1989 4 2 0 2 4 7
United States 1991 Caribbean Cup
United States Mexico 1993 did not enter
United States 1996 did not qualify
United States 1998
United States 2000
United States 2002 did not enter
United States Mexico 2003 did not qualify 4 1 1 2 3 6
United States 2005 did not enter Caribbean Cup
United States 2007 did not qualify
United States 2009
United States 2011
Total Third Place 21 5 5 11 27 55 22 5 7 10 17 35

CCCF Championship

CCCF Championship record
Year Result GP W D* L GF GA
as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao
Costa Rica 1941 Third place 4 1 2 1 16 12
El Salvador 1943 did not enter
Costa Rica 1946
Guatemala 1948 Fourth place 8 2 2 4 14 16
Panama 1951 did not enter
Costa Rica 1953 Fourth place 6 2 2 2 17 9
Honduras 1955 Runners-up 6 4 0 2 11 7
Netherlands Antilles 1957 Runners-up 4 2 1 1 7 4
as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles
Cuba 1960 Runners-up 4 2 2 0 9 7
Costa Rica 1961 First round 3 1 1 1 4 5
Total Runners-up 35 14 10 11 78 60

CFU Caribbean Cup

CFU Championship & Caribbean Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
Trinidad and Tobago 1978 did not qualify 4 1 1 2 1 5
Suriname 1979 did not enter did not enter
Puerto Rico 1981
French Guiana 1983 did not qualify Result Unknown
Barbados 1985 did not enter did not enter
Martinique 1988
Barbados 1989 Group stage 2 0 2 0 2 2 4 3 0 1 21 4
Trinidad and Tobago 1990 did not qualify 2 0 2 0 2 2
Jamaica 1991 2 0 0 2 0 5
Trinidad and Tobago 1992 3 1 1 1 3 3
Jamaica 1993 did not enter did not enter
Trinidad and Tobago 1994
Cayman Islands Jamaica 1995 did not qualify 5 3 1 1 11 11
Trinidad and Tobago 1996 1 0 0 1 0 1
Antigua and Barbuda Saint Kitts and Nevis 1997 1 0 0 1 1 2
Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago 1998 Group stage 3 0 0 3 2 9 3 2 1 0 6 4
Trinidad and Tobago 1999 did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 4
Trinidad and Tobago 2001 did not enter did not enter
Barbados 2005
Trinidad and Tobago 2007 did not qualify 3 0 1 2 1 7
Jamaica 2008 5 1 1 3 5 11
Martinique 2010 3 0 1 2 5 7
Total Group stage 5 0 2 3 4 11 38 11 10 17 58 66

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record Qualification record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao
Netherlands 1928 did not enter Declined participation
Germany 1936
United Kingdom 1948
as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles
Finland 1952 First round 1 0 0 1 1 2 —
Australia 1956 did not enter Declined participation
Italy 1960 did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 6
Japan 1964 did not enter Declined participation
Mexico 1968
West Germany 1972
Canada 1976
Soviet Union 1980
United States 1984
South Korea 1988
Spain1992 to present Under-23 Tournament Under-23 Tournament
Total First round 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 3 6

Pan American Games

Pan American Games record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA
as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao
Argentina 1951 did not enter
Mexico 1955 Bronze Medal 6 2 0 4 11 13
as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles
Since United States 1959 did not enter
Total Bronze Medal 6 2 0 4 11 13

Central American and Caribbean Games

Central American and Caribbean Games record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA
as Curaçao and Dependencies Territory of Curaçao
Cuba 1930 did not enter
El Salvador 1935
Panama 1938
Colombia 1946 Bronze Medal 6 3 2 1 25 10
Guatemala 1950 Gold Medal 6 4 1 1 20 6
Mexico 1954 did not enter
as Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles
Venezuela 1959 Silver Medal 4 2 1 1 21 5
Jamaica 1962 Gold Medal 5 5 0 0 16 5
Puerto Rico 1966 Silver Medal 5 4 0 1 11 4
Panama 1970 Silver Medal * * * * * *
Dominican Republic 1974 Unknown
Colombia 1978 Group stage 5 0 0 5 3 16
Cuba 1982 Group stage 3 1 1 1 2 6
Dominican Republic 1986 Group stage 2 0 1 1 1 3
Since Mexico 1990 Under-23 Tournament
Total Gold Medal 36 19 6 11 99 55

All-time record against other nations

Updated 31 May 2012[14]

Team Pld W D L
 Haiti 18 1 4 13
 Trinidad and Tobago 17 1 6 10
 Suriname 16 5 4 7
 El Salvador 16 1 4 11
 Costa Rica 15 3 1 11
 Mexico 12 2 3 7
 Jamaica 10 4 3 7
 Honduras 10 2 4 4
 Cuba 9 6 1 2
 Antigua and Barbuda 9 5 2 2
 Guatemala 9 2 5 2
 Nicaragua 7 6 0 1
 Panama 7 4 1 2
 Venezuela 6 3 1 2
 Guyana 6 1 1 4
 Puerto Rico 4 4 0 0
 Grenada 4 1 3 0
 United States 4 0 2 2
 Aruba 2 1 1 0
 Dominican Republic 2 0 1 1
 Netherlands 2 0 1 1
 Saint Lucia 1 0 1 0
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 0 1 0
 Argentina 1 0 0 1
 Barbados 1 0 0 1
 Bermuda 1 0 0 1
 Cayman Islands 1 0 0 1
Total 191 52 50 89

Honours

Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
World Cup 0 0 0 0
CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup 0 0 2 2
Confederations Cup 0 0 0 0
Olympic Games 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 2 2
This is a list of honours for the senior Netherlands Antilles national team

Other tournaments

See also

References

  1. ^ "UFWC results". Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  2. ^ "History of the FIFA worldcup preliminary competition (By year)" (PDF). FIFA. 19 September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Antillen opgeheven op 10-10-2010" (in Dutch). NOS. 1 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Curaçao page on". FIFA. 12 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  5. ^ "1988 Matches North and Central America and Caribbean". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Netherlandse Antillen " Selectie FIFA WK KW Concacaf 1992/1993". Voetbal.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. ^ "1996 Matches North and Central America and Caribbean". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Von Trinidad bis Uruguay: 777 Spiele und 2452 Tore". FIFA. 17 May 2002. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Pim Verbeek nieuwe bondscoach Antillen". Voetbal International. 15 October 2003. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Digicel Caribbean Championship...Dominica is 3rd team in Guyana group, Aruba for group A". Kaieteur News. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Nederlandse Antillen in zee met Leen Looyen". Voetbal International. 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  12. ^ "'Bondscoach' Remko Bicentini hoopt op finale tegen NEC". De Gelderlander. 22 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Nederlandse Antillen | Antias Hulandes Squad (2010)". National Football Teams. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Curaçao Match history". Soccerway.com. 11 January 2012. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2012.

External links

Football in the former Netherlands Antilles
National and regional football teams of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
Defunct and altered national football teams
Netherlands Antilles football squad – 1952 Summer Olympics
Categories